You shall be holy, for I am holy

How do you react to this call? Do you say, "That's impossible!"? And in one sense, that's the right reaction, for no one can be holy in the way that God is.

But that is NOT what Peter is saying. God is not saying "be holy in the same way that I am holy" No, God says, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." Because I am holy, therefore you are to be holy. This sort of holiness is what God calls us to. And if God has called us to be holy, then let us believe his promises, and in faith, obey his commands. So what does it mean to "be holy, for I am holy"?

We read Leviticus 11. We could have read some easier parts of Leviticus, but I wanted to start here precisely because it is the one that is hardest for us. God gives Israel a LONG list of unclean animals. These are animals that are NOT to be eaten. And what reason is given? "For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy." And if Israel didn't understand that, he repeats it: "You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the LORD your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."

These animals seem to be selected because they are mixed up. Parted-hoof animals are supposed to chew the cud. Therefore any animal that is only one way is not clean; it is mixed up. Water creatures are supposed to have scales and fins. Any water creature that does not have fins and scales is unclean. It is inappropriate. Winged insects are supposed to fly-therefore don't eat those that don't fly. God will also tell Israel not to sow their fields with two different crops. They are not to sew garments with two different kinds of material. They are not to unequally yoke an ox with a donkey.

All of these prohibitions are surrounded with this idea of holiness. What does this mean? Each thing that God has made has its proper use. God is teaching his son about these proper uses. Of course, in Christ, the son comes to maturity, and learns that what he had been taught as a child was over simplified. The distinction between clean and unclean animals had been given to Israel to emphasize their holiness--their distinctness--their unmixed character. But in Christ, God is mixing Jew and Gentile. He has declared that no food is inherently unclean.

Remember that it was Peter who received this revelation from Christ in Acts 10. It was Peter who first understood that this covenantal holiness in the Old Testament could be applied to the Gentiles. And so when he cites Leviticus "be holy for I am holy", it is likely that he remembered the vision he had received, where holiness took on new meaning. No other book of the Bible uses this phrase, so it is certain that Peter wants us to think about its usage in Leviticus.

Besides chapter 11, it is found four times in Lev 19-21. Lev 19:2: : [read 1-4] The whole chapter continues with the refrain "I am Yahweh your God." So the whole chapter echoes with this call to be holy. But here holiness is reflected in faithful obedience to God's commands--especially reverence toward mother and father, Sabbath-keeping, and avoiding idolatry. These things are to set you apart from the nations. Lev 20:7: [read 6-9 in the context of the prohibition against Molech] Again holiness is described in terms of faithful obedience to God, especially in the context of idolatry and honoring parents. Lev 20:26 [read 22-27]: Here we have the most straightforward statement of God's call to holiness. Israel's inheritance in the land was dependent upon their holiness, because God had separated them out from the peoples in order that they might be holy. Because God separates Israel out from the nations, therefore Israel must separate between clean and unclean. Lev 21:6-8: (regarding the priests) If Israel as a whole was to be holy-separate from the nations, the priests were to be separated out from Israel. They had their own call to holiness. The priests were to be the holy mediators in the midst of a holy people. And indeed, so long as the priests maintained their holiness, the people could continue to maintain their holiness through the prescribed sacrifices and offerings.
So the phrase "you shall be holy, for I am holy" is intimately bound up with what we often call the ceremonial law of Israel. It is all about ritual cleanliness, ceremonial holiness, as well as moral purity. So what is Peter doing with this phrase? Is he just tearing it out of context?
To understand what Peter is saying, we need to understand what he is doing here. 1:1-12 sets forth the present reality and future hope of the elect exiles. To use a grammatical term, it sets forth the indicative. In grammar, the indicative mood sets forth a statement of fact. This is the way things are. This is who you are in Christ. The indicative is usually followed by an imperative: a command. Since this is who you are in Christ, act like it. The Ten Commandments have this structure. The indicative leads the way: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." The indicative sets forth what God has done in redemption. The imperative calls forth our response to God's gracious acts in history. Peter has set forth who we are in Christ. We have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are elect exiles who will come through suffering to glory--even as our Savior. This is the statement of the indicative. Now Peter is going to set forth the basic imperatives of the Christian life. In 1:13-25 Peter will use four imperatives: 1:13 "Set your hope," 1:15 "Be holy," 1:17 "conduct yourselves with fear," 1:21 "Love one another." Each of these imperatives is grounded in the indicative. Each of these commands is rooted in who you are in Christ.

Let's start with verse 13: 1:13 Peter calls us to be prepared for action. Literally, this says, "girding up the loins of your minds." If you were a man in the first century, you would be wearing a long tunic that would have reached down to your ankles. Imagine trying to do heavy labor in a dress (you ladies can imagine this better!) When a man (or a woman) had to engage in active labor, he (or she) would tuck the skirt of his tunic into his belt. This was called "girding up your loins" and indicated that you were about to get active. Girding up the loins of your mind, therefore, means to prepare for action. And being sober minded, means to be realistic, clear, not giddy or fanciful.

But what action are we preparing for? The action is the first command that Peter gives us: "Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Hope is the central category of Peter's thought. We have been born again to a living hope (1:3). This hope is our cause for rejoicing as we saw in 1:6 (in this living hope you rejoice). This hope is the defining characteristic of the Christian life.

You will not understand anything in Peter's epistle unless you understand this. Our hope is eschatological. That's a fancy way of saying that our hope is not centered here. Our hope is centered on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our hope is eschatological. "Eschatos" simply means "last." Eschatology is the study of "last things." When we say that our hope is eschatological we mean that our hope is rooted in what God does at the end of history. What does God do at the end of history? Peter says that we are to "set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

It's easy to see this as something entirely future. God has promised to take us all to heaven (pie in the sky by and by, right?). But that would ignore everything that Peter has told us. "According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." What happened when Jesus Christ rose from the dead? What happened when he ascended to the right hand of the Father? Peter explains this in Acts 2. Peter says that the prophet Joel had said that God would pour out his Spirit in the last days. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost means that the last days have come. (2:33) If God has raised Jesus from the dead, and poured out his Spirit upon all flesh, then the last days have come. Israel expected that in the last days God would vindicate his people, judge his enemies, and establish the new creation. And in Jesus Christ, that is exactly what he did. All that the Jews thought would happen to Israel at the end of history, has happened to Jesus in the middle of history. And because it has happened to Jesus, it now defines all who are in Christ.
So to say that our hope is eschatological does NOT mean to say that our hope is entirely future. Our hope is eschatological because it is entirely rooted in what God does in the last days. And that certainly includes what God has done in raising Jesus Christ from the dead. (v3-5) If God has raised Jesus from the dead, then the ends of the ages have come upon us. Because it has happened to Jesus, it will certainly happen to all who are in him. (v13) So everything else that Peter is going to tell you to do will be grounded in this eschatological hope.

Now we are ready to understand Peter when he quotes Leviticus. "As obedient children" I don't think that there is an adequate English translation for this. "Children of obedience" (Semitic idiom "children of" means those who are shaped by and oriented toward. Children of wrath perhaps the most famous; likewise "mother of" means the shaper--"necessity is the mother of invention").
So to be "children of obedience" means that obedience to our heavenly Father is simply the natural obvious pattern of our lives. You are children of obedience by virtue of your union with Christ, who himself is the obedient Son. This IS who you are. You ARE obedient children. Peter is not commanding you to become obedient children, He is saying that this is who you are. You are children of obedience.

And so, as children of obedience, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Do not return to the old pattern of life. You are to be cultural nonconformists. The world lives in the passions of ignorance. You cannot live that way anymore. Your minds have been girded for action. You understand who you really are in Christ. Therefore the whole way you think and live must change.
As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Holiness means to be conformed to the new reality. We have heard the eschatological indicative: Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. YOU have been born again to a living hope through HIS resurrection. HE suffered and was glorified. YOU are suffering and will be glorified, though even now you rejoice with a joy that is filled with glory, because you believe the promises of God, and you are obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Because of all this, as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Because you are no longer lost in the passions of your former ignorance, be holy for I am holy. All your conduct--all your life as it is visible to those around you--must be consistent with who you are in Christ.

We saw that in Leviticus, all the usages of "be holy for I am holy" referred to Israel's status as a separate people. Israel as a whole was to be the priestly people, a kingdom of priests to use the language of Exodus. The ceremonial cleanness and moral purity of Israel came to an even greater level in the priests. Peter is saying that the church is the new priesthood. (He will say it bluntly in the next chapter.) You are a holy priesthood. God, the high and exalted one, the one who himself is most Holy, has set you apart to be his own peculiar treasure. HE has called you. You did nothing to deserve this. You did nothing to merit his favor. HE called you. HE caused you to be born again to this living hope. Being holy in all your conduct is not a means to impress God.

Rather, being holy in all your conduct is simply the result of being called by the Holy One.
Peter goes on to explain how this ties in with his theme of elect exiles: (17-21) Peter grounded our hope eschatologically. Our hope is rooted in what God is doing in the last days in the resurrection of Christ until his revelation. He now grounds the ethical call to holiness Christologically.
V17 may not sound very encouraging: "And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds..." Do you cherish the thought of God judging you impartially according to your deeds? You ought to. You ought to conduct yourself with fear during your exile, not with a fear that God's judgment will go against you, but with the fear of the Lord. Verses 18-19 explain this fear. We live our lives in fear, knowing that we have been ransomed. Christ has paid the price to set us free from the condemnation of God. Peter uses the sacrificial language of the Old Testament, Jesus is the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. God's judgment will still come. But as we saw last time that this is not a bad thing. Those who are in Christ can take comfort in the midst of God's judgment, because we know that through suffering we will come to glory.

Because in the last days God will judge every creature. (v20) At the cross God judged Jesus, as he had intended from the beginning. God's last-days judgment was declared in advance in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ God has declared his final judgment regarding us. And because he judged Jesus in the middle of history, we have been ransomed from our futile ways.

I love how Peter says it. This eschatological judgment was foreknown from the beginning, but made manifest in the last time. Did you wonder why I emphasized the idea of the eschatological orientation of the Christian life? Well, here it is. Peter says here--as he had said in Acts 2--that the death/resurrection/ascension of Christ happened in the last times. The work of Christ is itself eschatological. The end of history has reached its climax in the middle of history, precisely at the time God foreknew from the beginning. And God has rendered his eschatological judgment in Jesus Christ for your sake who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The point of the resurrection of Christ, and of his glorification, is so that your faith and hope might be in God.

The eschatological orientation of your hope comes together with the christological foundation of your obedience, to result in a gospel-centered love for the brethren. (v22-25) Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love... Notice that Peter does not say that you must purify your souls by obedience to the truth. Once again he starts with the indicative. He starts by saying that this is what characterizes you. You have purified your souls by obedience to the truth. By believing in Christ you have obeyed the truth. By being baptized you have purified your souls. Because you are the people of God, because you have been born again, not of a perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God, you are those who are obedient to the truth. Therefore, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

This is the point of who you are in Christ. The eschatological hope that we have in Christ, is played out day by day in the love that we have for one another. Again, Peter uses the language of being born again. (1:3) We have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1:22) Since you have been born again, love one another. You have been given a pure heart in Jesus Christ. Let that pure heart be the source of your attitudes and actions towards each other. We've seen how the command to hope is grounded eschatologically in the revelation of Christ. We've seen how the command to be holy is grounded christologically in the death and resurrection of Christ. Finally we see how the command to love is grounded kerygmatically in the preaching of Christ.

Peter commands us to love one another from a pure heart. That pure heart comes to us through the new birth, which itself comes through the living and abiding word of God. Peter cites Isaiah 40, which was the proclamation of the gospel of restoration from exile. Isaiah spoke to the exiles, and proclaimed peace, reminding them that though Zion had suffered great tribulations, yet now God was bringing redemption. Isaiah called upon the exiles to remember that while man fails like the grass, the Word of the Lord remains forever. God will do what he has promised. His word will never fail. And then Peter says simply and this word is the good news that was preached to you.
The living and abiding word of God which brings new life, the imperishable source of that pure heart that God has given us, is nothing other than the preaching of Christ.
Paul says it another way; "how will they believe unless they hear, and how will they hear unless someone preaches to them--as it is written, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that bring good news." Guess the reference of Paul's Old Testament quote? Isaiah 40 The same passage Peter cites to show his hearers that the proclamation of the gospel of Christ is the power behind the love that we show one another.

This gospel, the proclamation that what Israel had expected God to do for them at the end of history, God has done in Jesus in the middle of history, thereby bringing the end of the ages upon us--this gospel is the living and abiding word that changes us!

Our love for one another is grounded in the preaching of this word, because we are not saved in isolation from each other. If you are united to Christ, then you are united to one another. And the new birth that you have received cannot help but produce that pure heart that earnestly loves one another.